A big part of getting better and overcoming addiction is accepting that you are addicted, and with that in mind, I’m telling you here today that I’m addicted to Twitter. Enough is enough, though. I have to get better.
I’ve personally found that not having/using Twitter on my phone gets rid of a large portion of the problem. The other thing I can recommend is only reading subsets of Twitter via feed reader. Finally, I’ve long been making all my interactions with Twitter (Tweets, replies, etc.) through my own website. This creates just enough of an extra hurdle that I don’t make the snap decision to reply to tweets right away. Often they sit for a day or two and if I still care enough, then I’ll reply or comment. Not that my UI is necessarily worse than Twitter’s, just a little less addictive and immediate. I also have the benefit of owning my content for the eventual Twitterpocalypse–you know that thing that follows the fire and brimstone we’re currently experiencing.
If this person is truly addicted to using Twitter then I suggest they seek help. But I want to note something strange that is seldom considered. When someone says they are addicted to alcohol, we ask them to get help and join an alcoholic anonymous circle. Do most people blame the alcohol industry or suggest it be shutdown?
I’ll agree with you in part Khürt. I think some of the issue can be attributed to a sliding scale of potential benefits. Twitter and other social media can be a useful thing for society, but they’re also very often going overboard in actively making their products even more addictive so that they can make more money in return.
There actually are many that do blame the alcohol industry, the cigarette industry, and even the prescription drug industry (Purdue Pharma, anyone?) for their ill effects and suggest they be shut down. In many of those cases government oversight and regulation has helped to stave off the harms while still allowing the benefits. Most of our current problem is that these technologies aren’t evenly distributed among the people, lawmakers are poorly educated on them (just look at the knucklehead questions that have been asked of Mark Zuckerberg–and his lack of response–on the House and Senate floors), not to mention the massive amount of lobbying money these mega-corporations have spent on preventing regulation.
I suspect we’ll find a solution eventually, but how long will it take and at what cost to individuals and to society?